BarcelonaThe most representative face of Barça prior to the joy of the levers is Memphis Depay, a footballer who only 12 months ago held up the Barça attack almost single-handedly and capitalized on the illusion of a Barcelonianism type of dramas. He inherited Luis Suarez’s No. 9 and accepted the challenge of helping lift the parish’s spirits shortly after Messi’s reluctant farewell. They were certainly two big responsibilities for a player with a star frame, but who came from Olympique de Lyon, a second tier European team.
First with Koeman and then with Xavi, the Dutchman was the beacon in attack during the first part of the season (8 goals and 2 assists) until an injury in Munich, the result of an unusual excess of minutes in his career, force him to stop. When he returned to play, the club had already signed Aubameyang and Ferran Torres, which relegated him to the background. All in all, he finished the campaign with 13 goals in 38 appearances, sharing the label of top scorer with the sensational Gabonese, who months later would be transferred to Chelsea.
All this context is essential to understand the current situation of Memphis, who has become, a year and a half after his arrival, the sixth piece of Barça’s attack. He even had to give up his number to Lewandowski, erected in the new icon, and put on the number 14 that left Philippe Coutinho free. The striker Orange he willingly agreed to have the gesture with the Pole, but he was hurt by the moves that the Blaugrana sports management made for him to go to Juventus by forgiving the remaining year of his contract (he signed two) to release salary mass.
Reluctant negotiation with Juventus
The talks with the Italians did not come to fruition because Memphis, who was happy in Barcelona, started them reluctantly. On the other hand, he also did not want to give up the rising salary that he agreed in the summer of 2021, when Barça had problems signing up players because of the fair play financial All of this made him stay in the squad, upset with a role he doesn’t think is fair – according to people from Sant Joan Despí – and with no negotiations in sight to renew.
The official communication of the permanence of Memphis
“I have decided to stay! I am fully committed to contributing to the club’s sporting success,” Memphis wrote on September 1, the day the transfer window closed. However, this particular restart ran into a very stubborn reality in the first leg of the course: zero minutes in five official matches. The Dutchman showed his discomfort and Xavi gave him two consecutive titles in the League before the international break. In the second participation, against Elche at Camp Nou, he even scored a goal. The technicians took a breath: they had extinguished a small fire motivated by the high level of competition in the squad. And Memphis could go well with the Netherlands, where it has a leading role.
Much more recanca than Kounde
But during the first match of the international bracket, against Lewandowski’s Poland, a circumstance arose that has rarefied the situation again. The striker went down with an injured left biceps femoris and missed the second engagement with Belgium. Barça recognized the strip, did not provide details on the recovery time – although it calculated that it could be resolved in 20 days – and made available to the footballer everything necessary for him to play again with timings similar to those of Jules Kounde, who was discharged before the classic two weeks ago after recovering from a similar injury and in Valencia he requested the change due to discomfort in the affected area.
In contrast to the obstinacy of the French centre-back, the Blaugrana physios and doctors detect that Memphis is not in such a hurry to recover and even interpret that what he wants is to reserve himself so as not to have any scares before the World Cup. They explain from Ciutat Esportiva that, to justify his refusal to increase the workload, the ex-Lyon claim that he does not feel good in his injured thigh. As a result of this reluctance, he has not yet appeared at the training camp to test himself with his teammates. However, Xavi has publicly said that he hopes to recover it for the visit of Almeria on November 5, in the penultimate commitment before the World Cup stoppage.
28 years old, suitors and few months of contract
The concern in the offices before this fallow strategic Memphis is much smaller. In fact, Mateu Alemany and his team consider that the Dutchman can be more useful by saving himself for the World Cup than playing hard to help Barça. The reason is quite simple: he is a player who is free next summer and who knows that the appointment in Qatar can help him refocus his career to the point that some major team can consider signing him in the winter . An eventual exit in January could not only leave some money in the form of a transfer, but it would also free up an important file that would allow entry movements to be considered. Memphis is 28 years old and suitors in the bedroom. His future is far from Camp Nou.
